


Man's Best Friend

by rosewell893



Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Dogs, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosewell893/pseuds/rosewell893
Summary: A short story about Guillermo meeting a stray dog and befriending him.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	1. Shelf Life

Guillermo stepped out of the small McDonald's, a large fry and Dr. Pepper in hand. The cold night air that hit his face that was used to the comfortable warm temperature of the lobby of the fast food eatery made his skin sting and his eyes close involuntarily, but he quickly got over it. He then made his way over to the bus stop that sat across the street and took a seat on the metal bench.

Along with the cold air swirling around his already nearly-frozen body, he felt something small and wet nudging against his left leg. He looked down only to see that a large, black-haired dog was sitting beside him on the sidewalk, staring at him with yearning eyes.

Guillermo immediately dawned an affectionate smile at the sight. "Hey there, doggy," he said, in a soft and adoring tone, "do you need something? Are you hungry?"

The dog gave a whine at this, which told Guillermo that the dog was, indeed, hungry. Guillermo took a small handful of fries from the red fry box. 

"They're cold, so they might not be that good," he said, as he carefully extended the fries towards the dog. The dog leaned his snout close to Guillermo's occupied hand and sniffed the fries, then turned his head away and gave a groan of total disgust once the scent hit his nostrils. The reaction made Guillermo giggle and retract his offering. 

"Yeah, I didn't think so," said Guillermo, who threw the sniffed fries into the bus stop's trash receptical and took another handful for himself. 

"So, what do you want, boy?" Guillermo asked the dog, who somehow perked up and retracted at the same time at his question. This prompted the human to keep propositioning, as one did when talking to a friendly dog, "Do you want me to pet you?"

Any retractful body language the dog had been displaying dropped immediately. The dog's eyes lit up at the question as he stood up on all fours and began to howl at Guillermo, who then put his food down and gave an amused chuckle.

"All right, I'll take that as a yes!"

Guillermo scooted over on the bench towards the dog, who then sat with the right side of his back brushed up against the human's leg. The dog peered up at Guillermo with expectant eyes that met ones full of pure adoration.

"I'm gonna pet you now, okay?" he said, hovering his hand a good couple inches over the dog's head. The dog responded with a short and understanding bark.

With that, Guillermo lowered his hand onto the top of the dog's head and began to softly pet the hair there, which was unusually soft and silky, especially for an assumed stray. Nevertheless, Guillermo continued to pet on. The dog appreciated this, as he started leaning into the touch, his tongue partially hanging out of his mouth as he panted in delight.

The interaction continued until the light of the oncoming bus' headlights hit the both of them as it came to a rest in front of the bus stop.  
Guillermo gave a reluctant smile to the dog, "Sorry, buddy, but I've gotta leave."

The dog whined sadly, but still stood up from sitting on the human's leg and returned to his previous spot. Guillermo then grabbed what remained of his snack, got up from the bench, and entered the bus, but not before waving goodbye to his temporary canine companion. 


	2. Boundaries

Guillermo exited the 24 hour supermarket carrying a fully-packed re-usable grocery bag. His mother had asked him to do some short notice daily shopping, which consisted of mostly staple foods. Thankfully, there was a bus stop about fifty feet away from the store, so he wouldn't have to lug the hefty bag around at night for very long.

Once he reached the bus stop, he placed the bag on the metal bench and sat down beside it. His aching right arm muscles gave a cheer of relief at the sudden lack of strain.

He merely sat and observed the empty streets in front of him for a while before pulling out his phone and waking it up. Once the screen came to life, a single message notification popped up on his home screen. It was from his mother. He tapped it and waited for the messenger to finish loading.  


(¿Encontraste todo en la lista?)  
  
(Sí, ya terminé. Estoy esperando el autobús ahora mismo.)

(Muy bien, entonces. Te veré cuando llegues a casa.)

Though Guillermo's sense of sight was trained on his phone screen, his sense of hearing picked up the faint, attention-seeking whine that came from nearby. He turned his head towards the sound and found that the source was the same dog from before.

Guillermo gave a friendly smile. "Oh, hey, boy," he greeted warmly, while slipping his phone into his jacket's pocket. The dog moved closer to the bench and sat down by Guillermo's feet, and the human placed his hand on the dog's head, patting him softly.

"I wasn't expecting to see you, again," he admitted, without losing any warmth in his voice. The dog made a tiny, indiscernable noise at this, but Guillermo couldn't hear it from the bus stop's bench. He was also too smitten by the adorable dog he was petting to really pay attention.

"Here for another petting session?"

The dog barked in agreement, his eyes twinkling gleefully as he smiled up at the human. Guillermo felt a smile of his own make its way onto his lips at the sudden change in attitude.

"Okay, then," he said, then motioned to the spot against his left leg with his hands, " _assume the position_ ," he instructed, mimicking Nandor's accent with playful giggle.

The dog slumped up Guillermo's leg, awaiting to be petted, and Guillermo willfully obliged, stroking the dog's head slowly, feeling the silky strands run through his fingers.

The dog feel into bliss again, with that same dazed smile upon his face. The mood only changed when Guillermo moved his hand down further to pet the dog's back, which earned the human a protesting bark.

Guillermo jerked his hand back. "Oh! Sorry," he apologized, pushing his glasses up, "just pet your head, then?"

The dog gave another bark, which Guillermo took as a yes.

Once again, the arrival of the bus signified the end of their petting episode.

"Oh, the bus is here. I have to go, now." 

The dog released the human from his leg-sitting and Guillermo grabbed his grocery bag. He then stepped up to the bus' door, but turned around before entering to wave goodbye, only to find that the dog wasn't there. Guillermo shrugged and got on the bus anyway.


	3. Chance Encounter

Guillermo stood in the flourescent-lit laundromat, watching his first load go through the spin cycle through the glass door of the washing machine. It wasn't his turn to take the clothes to be washed, but when his mother went he usually accompanied her, anyway, so he offered to take it himself a second time.

His deep stare into the cleaning procedure was interrupted by the howling that came from beyond the glass door and windows. He turned his head towards the sound, and there stood the black dog once again, looking directly at him with that same yearning gaze.

He knew the drill already, this was the part where he dropped what he was currently doing and started loving on the adorable dog until whatever he was currently doing required him to leave. Thankfully, the laundromat was essentially a ghost town that night, so he felt better about leaving his load unattended.

He exited the laundromat and enthusiastically greeted his canine friend, "Hey, boy!"

The dog perked up at the sight of the human's adoring smile and barked at him in return.

"Same old, same old?"

The dog cocked his head and gave a confused sound, then before Guillermo could respond, start whining impatiently. Guillermo took this as a definite yes.

The dog plopped himself in the usual spot and Guillermo went to town petting on the dog's head.

This petting session was much longer than the previous ones due to there being no bus involved and Guillermo had just started the load when the dog called to him. Though however good the odds seemed to be, their bonding moment was still cut short by an interruption.

"Hey, Guillermo!" shouted a man with a familiar, nasaly voice.

Guillermo looked towards the direction of the shout and found to his terror that Colin Robinson was walking towards him with a wide and toothy smile on his face.

As the dog noticed the energy vampire's presence, he suddenly darted in the opposite direction down the sidewalk and around the street corner, making Guillermo look on in concern.

This didn't deter the energy vampire from continuing his trek to devour a little night-time snack. Guillermo knew this, too, because he gave an internal sigh and faced the energy vampire with a look of half-hearted friendliness.

"Hey, Colin Robinson," he greeted, discontent clear in his tone.

Colin Robinson's irises twinkled blue at the familiar's reply, feeding off of the negative energy he caused in the human. Guillermo felt his shoulders slump and his eyelids grow heavy.

This laundry run was gonna be a long one.


	4. Rituals

Nandor rested his back up against the brick wall of the street corner, away from the eyes of his former familiar and his energy vampire roommate. The panic that set in his chest at nearly being discovered subsided, only to be replaced by a mixture of frustration and anger.

Damn that Colin Robinson, he thought as he slammed his fist softly onto the brick wall behind him, why did he have to ruin everything?

Nandor felt himself weaken then, and his eyelids grow heavy. Colin Robinson knew he was there, and he was shamelessly helping himself to the feast he made for himself.

The vampire sighed in defeat and took his bat form, flying away into the night sky. It didn't matter what Colin Robinson knew. As long as Guillermo didn't realize it was him, the little night-time petting rituals didn't need to stop. He missed having the familiar run his hairbrush and fingers through his hair before he turned in for the day. Though he wouldn't admit that to himself.

The hair-brushing helped him sleep. It was Guillermo's fault for getting him used to the bedtime ritual. He would never forgive him for it.


End file.
